The present invention relates to an electronic component-feeding apparatus and an electronic component mount method used in mounting electronic components to circuit boards.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a constitution of a conventional electronic component-mounting apparatus. A component storage section 3 storing required electronic components 2 is selected from a component storage device 1 which stores several tens of component storage sections 3, and the storage section 3 is sent out in a direction of an arrow I. A mounting head 10 moving freely in X-axis and Y-axis directions sucks components 2 to thereby hold and transfer the electronic components 2. A sucked position of the electronic component 2 is first detected by a position detection camera 7, and thereafter an accuracy of clinched leads of the component or the like is inspected by a good/defective component inspecting device 6. Whether the electronic component 2 is good or fails is thus determined and if the electronic component 2 is defective, the electronic component 2 is removed. A suction attitude and a mount position of the electronic component 2 judged, to be good are corrected on the basis of information of the sucked position obtained by the position detection camera 7. The electronic component 2 is then mounted to a circuit board 11. A plurality of tape-type component feeding devices 12 feeding components stored in a tape, etc. are arranged at an opposite side of the component storage device 1 via a transfer path for the circuit board 11, so that the other components to be mounted to the circuit board 11 are properly supplied and mounted to the circuit board 11 with the use of the aforementioned mounting head 10.
In the prior art constitution as above, a sequence of processes takes time, i.e., a process wherein the component storage device selects the required component storage section, moves the storage section up/down and sends out the storage section through a take-out opening, a process wherein a transfer head sucks the components to thereby hold and transfer the predetermined electronic component, a process wherein the sucked position of the component is detected and corrected so as to inspect whether the component is good or defective, and a process of mounting the component to the circuit board. Productivity efficiency is yet to be solved.
The present invention has for its object to provide an electronic component-feeding apparatus and electronic component mount method of improved efficiency.
In solving the above-discussed disadvantage, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic component-feeding apparatus which comprises component storage sections, a component storage device, transfer head, a component alignment section, and an inspection device.
The component storage sections store electronic components. The component storage device has a plurality of the component storage sections therein, and selects and sends out a desired component storage section therefrom.
The transfer head has a suction nozzle for sucking a predetermined electronic component from the component storage section selected and sent out by the component storage device, thereby transferring the predetermined electronic component to a component alignment section. The component alignment section holds the electronic components sequentially transferred by the transfer head, and transfers the held electronic components sequentially to a suction position of amounting head.
The inspecting device is for inspecting whether the electronic component is good or defective on a transfer path of the transfer head. By the above construction of the aspect of the present invention, the electronic components can be aligned in the order of mounting at the component alignment section at the same time that a circuit board is carried in or discharged. Therefore, the electronic components are efficiently supplied to the mounting head when the electronic components are mounted to the circuit board. Thus, efficiency in mounting the electronic components is improved greatly. In addition to this effect, the electronic components can be inspected before being supplied to the mounting head. Thus, efficiency is furthermore enhanced.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the component alignment section of the first aspect of the present invention includes a component alignment belt and alignment suction nozzles arranged in a row at a constant interval on the component alignment belt along a transfer direction of the component alignment belt. Therefore, the electronic components are supplied sequentially to the mounting head through an intermittent operation of the component alignment belt. By the above construction, the electronic components can accordingly be efficiently and surely supplied to the mounting head in a state while aligned in the order of mounting.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic component-feeding apparatus in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the transfer direction of the component alignment belt of the component alignment section is oriented in parallel to a direction in which the selected component storage section is sent out from the component storage device. In addition, the transfer head moves in a direction orthogonal to the send-out direction. By the above construction, the electronic components can be aligned on the component alignment section efficiently in the order of mounting through a reciprocatory operation of the transfer head.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an electronic component mount method carried out when electronic components are mounted to a circuit board is provided. This method comprises selecting a desired one of a plurality of component storage sections storing the electronic components, and taking out the electronic component selected among the electronic components in the selected component storage section on the basis of the order of mounting to the circuit board. The electronic component is then transferred and delivered to a component alignment section. The selecting, taking out, transferring and delivering operations are repeated in accordance with the order of mounting. The electronic components sequentially transferred to the component alignment section are held, and the held electronic components are supplied sequentially to a suction position of a mounting head by the component alignment section.
The electronic components are then sucked sequentially at the suction position and are mounted to the circuit board by the mounting head. By the above constructions, the electronic components can be efficiently supplied to the mounting head in a state while aligned in the order of mounting at the same time that the circuit board is carried in or out. In consequence, the electronic components are mounted efficiently to the circuit board.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, while the electronic component is being transferred to the component alignment section, the electronic component is inspected to determine whether it is good or not. By the above constructions, whether or not the electronic component is good is determined before it is supplied to the mounting head, thereby enhancing efficiency.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first through third aspects of the present invention, the transfer head repeatedly takes out the electronic components in accordance with the order in which they are mounted to the circuit board. The transfer head also repeatedly transfers the electronic component to the component alignment section and delivering the electronic component to the component alignment section in the order in which they are to be mounted. The electronic components can accordingly be delivered to the component alignment section among the electronic components in the component storage section in accordance with the order of mounting to the circuit board.
As described hereinabove, in the electronic component-feeding apparatus and the electronic component mount method provided according to the present invention, the time during which the circuit board is carried in or out, etc. is efficiently utilized to feed the electronic components to the mounting head in a state while the electronic components are aligned in the order of mounting. A mount time for the electronic components in a mount process is consequently greatly reduced, and productivity is expected to be improved. Moreover, the good/defective inspection of the electronic components can be accomplished before they are aligned in the order of mounting, achieving further improvement in efficiency.